Bagasse Disease of the Lungs

Abstract

Bagasse is the name given to sugar cane after it has been crushed and the juice has been extracted. The term was originally used in Provence, France, to refer to the refuse from the olive-oil mills. Bagasse disease of the lungs, or bagassosis, is a pulmonary disorder brought about by the inhalation of dried bagasse dust. It is a rare disease, with only some 30 to 40 cases reported in the medical literature, having been first described in 1941 by Jamison and Hopkins (8), of New Orleans. So far as is known today, the disease occurs only in people who have been exposed to the inhalation of dried bagasse dust. Industrial engineers have been aware that exposure to the dust was an industrial hazard, but very few physicians are cognizant of this fact. The fibers of bagasse are tough and possess insulating properties, which explains its use in the manufacture of acoustical and thermal insulating building boards and materials. More recently it has been used in the production of refractory brick. Two factors are la...